Chief Minister Vijay does not follow constitutional morality, says A. Raja

DMK Deputy General Secretary A. Raja on Tuesday accused Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay of failing to uphold constitutional morality and responsibility while addressing a meeting in Tiruchi where he was supposed to thank voters a day earlier.

“It is unbecoming of the Chief Minister. If you compare the tone and tenor of his speech in the assembly with the tone of mockery and aggression in Tiruchi, you can sense tiredness, hesitation and helplessness in his speech in the assembly. Why did he give such a bravura speech in Tiruchi? Who wrote it? If you compare the two speeches and the political mandoeuvrment, you will understand the embarrassment behind it,” Mr. Raja told reporters at Anna Arivalayam, headquarters DMK, in Chennai.

Reacting to Mr Vijay’s repetition that the political contest was between the DMK and TVK and his use of the colloquial Tamil term “Allu Chillu” to describe parties other than the DMK, Mr Raja wondered if the Chief Minister was embarrassed by such remarks.

“You visited the same ‘Allu Chillus’, gifted them scarves and sought their votes (in the trust vote). Was it a decent policy or a fraudulent policy? People don’t know about it? Can you say something that would please you?” asked Mr. Raja.

He said it was unfair of the chief minister to react angrily to his comments about those urging people to free themselves from glamor politics.

“You hold a constitutional position, Brother Vijay. We too have the right to question you,” he said.

Mr. Raja said that while Mr. Vijay had every right to criticize the DMK, he should have spent some time explaining his meeting with the Prime Minister and what he demanded from the Union government.

“Do you know who (former chief minister) Stalin is? He once said that he will not allow any violation of the constitution in Tamil Nadu. Yet you have only issued an order to implement the constitutional provisions. The government can be removed if it violates the constitution. We have not violated it. Yet you are asking the Union government to intervene,” he said.

Mr. Raja said the DMK may wait six months before offering a broader assessment of Mr. Vijay’s government, but that does not mean it will refrain from commenting on day-to-day governance.

“We will continue to talk about the administration. We will not be silent just because you ask us to,” he said.

Published – 02 Jun 2026 22:25 IST